Your day's wildlife

[Dave 123]

Between the M11 and Cambridge on the Coton cycle path this morning, sun blazing and skylarks singing. I couldn't see them though!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Pretty rare. I've only ever seen one, years ago. They're long since extinct in the places I've lived. I'll have to keep my ears open on my Cheshire rides.

Yep. We've been really lucky over the years... I probably have a digital photo or two or the time we had 3 on our oil tank at once from our old home! I'll see if I can root it out and pm it to you if you would like!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Buzzard, saw one this afternoon on the way home, often see I assume the same one in the same place but theyre quite a common sight now.

Buzzards are two a penny here and at my last home. Here they are nesting in trees not motte than 100m from houses, my landladies house. You can see the nest from her living room and there is a public footpath that runs within 10m plus the height of the tree of that nest. We wake to hearing them everyday and don't bat an eye lid over seeing them. Common as blue tits! Just depends on where you live really.
Now house sparrows are another matter entirely!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I've taken a slightly different route on one part of my commute the last two days as my normal shortcut is very muddy, and I keep spotting a blackbird with lots of white patches on his feathers (I used to have one in my garden with one white patch but this is quite a few patches).

There is a robin that comes to my window every morning, always the first in and last one of the day who also has some white feathers!

 

[Tail End Charlie]

Just what I was going to say!!

 

[gbb]

Buzzards are two a penny here and at my last home. Here they are nesting in trees not motte than 100m from houses, my landladies house. You can see the nest from her living room and there is a public footpath that runs within 10m plus the height of the tree of that nest. We wake to hearing them everyday and don't bat an eye lid over seeing them. Common as blue tits! Just depends on where you live really.
Now house sparrows are another matter entirely!

To give an idea of how things have changed, we were going on holiday down the M5 corridor years ago. My son, a bird lover was about 10 and buzzards were a very very rare sight round here. As we drove down the M5 (obviously buzzards country) his excitement grew and grew as we saw more and more buzzards...we stopped being excited after about the hundredth .
They're not THAT common round here yet, but 20 years ago they were a very rare sight, now...no big deal.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

OK...
from what I have been able to get my hands on instantly and going by the BTO video id guide (paler dot on the bill) given I can't remember bird song from 2006.... these 2 photos are probably a marsh tit taken 26th Jan 2006....



Whereas this one is probably a willow tit (taken 29th Jan 2006)



I haven't found the picture of the 3 of them on the oil tank - it could be film days... but I'm not sure. I will have a rummage through my digital files - sadly my back prevents me getting to the film files without help so that will be a weekend job!

where we lived had both environments and both visited the bird table. We had many rare birds in the area, so it would not be impossible for us to have had both of them. We lived near to a nature reserve (several thousand acres) which was next to an MOD training area and also on the other side of us was farmland. We had ancient coppice (willow and hazel) on the remaining side which was dotted with boardleafed trees.. The nature reserve was known for its Dartford warble which we saw frequently, we also had the smooth snake as well as all the others in the area (actually it was on our track which is how we came to ID it.).

The one that is currently visiting the bird feeder here may or may not (going for the may not tbh) have the pale dot, I don't recall seeing it but will double check) have the pale dot on its beck. I will try to listen for its call to see what I can do over the next few days and see if I can get a good photo of it for you. I may even get my big camera our with a proper lens and see if I can get a close up, though the angle to the suet is not great!

 

[summerdays]

There is a robin that comes to my window every morning, always the first in and last one of the day who also has some white feathers!

I had a robin that had a couple of white feathers that looked like a heart one year .... never got the photo of that unfortunately and the following year I assume he regrew them as normal feathers.

 

[Mark1978]

If you think back 20 years, the difference particually in raptor numbers is striking.
Dad was a keen countryside man who loved bird watching and that rubbed off on me...and onto my son as well.
Round these ere parts (bordering the fens) it was unusual to see a buzzard, very rarely. Red Kite were birds of folklore, Osprey had been introduced to Rutland but you had to go there to see one. Marsh Harrier...again, you had to know specifically where to look...now look at it
Buzzard, saw one this afternoon on the way home, often see I assume the same one in the same place but theyre quite a common sight now.
Red Kite..pah, whats the big deal..(only joking, truly lovely birds) Two a penny round here.
Osprey..look very high in a summers sky, we see them occasionally headed from the fens toward Rutland. i saw one 4 years ago on a ride, he was perched in a tree maybe 300 yards away..near Peterborough.
Marsh Harrier...seen them a few times now, spreading out perhaps from the Nene washes east of Whittlesea.
Dad lost his sight at 60...he never ever saw a Red Kite, despite all the years he'd spent in the countryside.
Raptors, birds of prey have done very well it seems.

I live just over to the east of you, near to Downham Market. We are just starting to see Red Kites around here, which is great. This year has been phenomenal for barn owls, i've only got to travel along the fenland drains to find dozens of them. i frequently see half a dozen on my way into work.

Buzzards are very common around here and we have a resident marsh harrier in our paddock. Kestrels are ten a penny, as are the Little Owls living in next doors fir tree and the occasional Tawny owl.

The one that excites me most, normally moreso in the summer is seeing the Hen Harriers from the A10 as they fly around wicken fen. Amazing birds and extremely rare.

 

[Soltydog]

Saw 3 barn owls this afternoon on the ride home, the 2nd one of which flew alongside me for a couple of hundred yards at approx 22mph with a tailwind, only flew off when a car passed by & seem to scare it off

 

[annedonnelly]

OK...
where we lived had both environments and both visited the bird table. We had many rare birds in the area, so it would not be impossible for us to have had both of them. We lived near to a nature reserve (several thousand acres) which was next to an MOD training area and also on the other side of us was farmland. We had ancient coppice (willow and hazel) on the remaining side which was dotted with boardleafed trees.. The nature reserve was known for its Dartford warble which we saw frequently, we also had the smooth snake as well as all the others in the area (actually it was on our track which is how we came to ID it.).

If I'd lived somewhere like that you'd not have got me to move for anything!!

 

[annedonnelly]

To anyone who's interested, I can heartily recommend "How to be a bad bird watcher" by Simon Barnes. Very funny, with tales about birds and his relationships with his father and wife.

+1 on Simon Barnes. If anyone asks I now describe myself as a "bad birdwatcher". I think he classified it as somewhere between a "twitcher" and a "robin stroker".

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

If I'd lived somewhere like that you'd not have got me to move for anything!!

We were tenants and decided to go off to cycle around the world after 12 years there! It was the only reason we're left.

 

[Captain Scarlet]

Spotted a lovely red squirrel having a feed at a feeding station, on the golf course where I work. Saw it and quickly jumped off phone in hand, so sorry about the quality.

 

[gbb]

Fox this afternoon, just sniffing and working his way along a path at the side of an urban road, bordering the heavily tree lined dual carriageway..ideal hiding grounds for deer and fox. He seemed quite oblivious of us passing.